


The Prodigal Daughter and the Genius

by DarnItTumbleweed



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Domestic Violence, Drama, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Opposites Attract, Romance, season threeish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23063077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarnItTumbleweed/pseuds/DarnItTumbleweed
Summary: Hannah Prentiss isn't exactly thrilled to be dropping in unnanounced on her big sister. Emily and she have never really agreed on...well anything. Hannah can't think of anywhere else to go though. Her ex isn't exactly known for being reasonable, so leaving him in the middle of the night probably wasn't the best plan. So hiding out in D.C. until this all blows over is probably a smart move. Hannah doesn't expect to attract the attention of a certain genius and coworker of her big sister. Reid can't help but to be fascinated by Hannah. Emily has never mentioned a sister before and he wasn't expecting Hannah to be related to Emily. Can he help Hannah learn to trust and maybe even love again? More importantly can he keep her safe when her past comes knocking? Can Hannah realize that she doesn't have to run from her problems anymore? This takes place late season two and early season three.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	The Prodigal Daughter and the Genius

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first Criminal Minds fic I have written in like a decade, so bear with me here kids. This a reimagining of a fic I wrote a long time ago, but now with action and smut. Hope you enjoy it.

Hannah pushed back her dark hair the assortment of silver bangles she wore on her wrist clinking against one another as she moved. She stared up at the building in front of her, her stomach in knots. Maybe this was a bad idea…she’d never been fond of cops after all, well these were feds in this scenario, but still. 

She’d never been exactly at ease around any sort of authority figure who had the ability to apprehend her and take her freedom from her. No, it wasn’t as though she’d ever broken the law…not seriously at least…aside from the occasional joint and a speeding ticket…or two or three speeding tickets…but still she and the cops had never been bosom buddies.

Being so up close and personal to a federal building surrounded by federal agents made Hannah’s head spin and ache in the worst ways possible.

Maybe it would be smarter to just walk away and pretend she was never here. It’s not as though she gave her big sister any warning of her arrival after all, and Emily and she hadn’t really ever seen eye to eye. If she walked away right now Emily would never even know she was even in DC in the first place.

Hannah cringed knowing that she didn’t have much of a choice though. She couldn’t run away, not this time. She needed her sister. She had nowhere else to go.

Ian probably wouldn’t think to look for her here, she told herself though a taunting voice in the back of her brain argued with this idea. Ian was smarter than he looked, and leaving the way she did…he was bound to be pissed.

Her boyfriend…well, she guessed it was ex-boyfriend now, had been fun at first. Charming, exciting…he was loaded and he had no problem throwing gifts at her. No, it wasn’t really anything far from what she’d grown up with. Being an ambassador’s youngest child meant that she was no stranger to luxury. Still, Ian had made it hard not to be charmed.

Something had changed though. Things had gotten, well… intense…dark. He’d done a 180 on her as far as his mood went.

Her once sweet doting boyfriend had become violent and moody. There was nothing like being beaten to a bloody pulp to make you question your relationship with a guy. To be honest, even though Hannah tried to play it cool, Ian scared her. Deep down Hannah knew that if she stayed with Ian that he would kill her eventually. Men like Ian didn't let women walk away from them.

That last fight, that last beating, it had been the worst yet. It was time to check out and get the hell out of Los Angeles. She’d tried to dump Ian of course. The first time he'd backhanded her she'd told him to get out of her life. He'd weaseled his way back into her heart though. She'd tried to be strong. She'd tried to tell herself that she wasn’t some doormat, standing by while a guy treated her like trash. It wasn’t that simple though. Ian didn’t like being told no. Ian wasn't going to just take her dumping him lying down.

So, Hannah had done the one thing she’d always exceeded at. She’d cleaned out her bank account, packed her bags, and disappeared.

That had been a week ago. She’d crashed in motels for a while, trying to reassess her situation. She’d come to one conclusion. She had to go somewhere safe and lie low for a while. Emily was safe.

Hannah shoved her shades back over her eyes knowing it might at least help where make up had failed to hide the bruising. It was time to drop in on her sister and seek safety for a little while. She had no choice.

Emily might not be thrilled to see her, but she really had no other better option.

========================

Emily nursed a cup of coffee her brain throbbing. Jet lag sucked. It sucked even more when your genius coworker was rattling on about whatever statistical nonsense, he’d chosen to torture everyone with today.

Usually she was a bit more interested in listening to Reid’s rants. For the most part the facts and knowledge he shared were fascinating. She wasn’t exactly in the mood to listen to Reid explain the scientific inaccuracies he’d noticed in the science fiction movie Garcia and he’d watched this weekend though.

They’d just gotten back from a case across the country. She’d only been home less than 24 hours and her brain was aching.

She almost dropped her cup of coffee when she spotted her. It had been a few years, but she’d recognize her own flesh and blood anywhere.

Hannah stood behind Reid’s desk the young man’s back to her staring straight ahead at her sister, her stomach rolling. Here went nothing.

She spoke hoping that her voice didn’t betray her. “Hey Em.”

“Hannah?” Emily stood up causing Reid to stop his rambling, both he and Morgan taking notice of the pretty brunette who’d caught Emily’s attention.

Reid turned his chair around not helping but to watch the exchange between his coworker and their mystery guest.

Hannah took no notice of Reid or Morgan's gaze upon her finding the fact that she was staring at her estranged older sister in a busy office space far too awkward to take notice of any eyes on her.

She spoke trying to make a joke. “I wasn’t sure they’d let me in to see you. I didn’t even know what floor you were on or anything…I think the security guard considered frisking me when I walked in.”

Emily continued staring at her sister unsure of what to say or do. It had been a few years since she’d had any contact with Hannah. Her little sister had essentially dropped off the face of the earth.

It’d started with avoiding Emily’s calls and turning down her invitations to visit her in DC. Then Hannah had deleted her social media pages and stopped taking calls.

Emily had wanted to step in, track her sister down. She’d held back though. It wasn’t uncommon for Hannah to disappear like this. This was the same woman who’d once decided to backpack across Europe for a month without letting anyone know about her plans.

Emily managed to speak knowing that she sounded a little accusatory. “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a girl drop in on her sister?” Hannah blurted out cringing at Emily’s reaction. This was a bad idea, she knew she shouldn’t have come here.

Emily sighed shaking her head. “Of course, you can…I, I just wasn’t expecting you.”

Emily continued to study her sister the two women standing in an awkward silence both unaware of their audience of Reid and Morgan.

The girl standing in front of Emily looked a little rough to be honest. Hannah had always been a thin girl, but she looked almost frail. She wore a casual loose black dress covering her frame with a long gray kimono styled cardigan. Her hair was a little longer than Emily had remembered it being. Emily was sure she could spot a pair of silver earrings in her sister’s ears and the thin gold ring in her left nostril. She could also spot black ink on her wrist a hint of a tattoo she was trying to hide. Despite the red lipped smile on Hannah’s face Emily could read tension all over her. The large dark sunglasses Hannah wore made it hard to see her eyes.

Emily wasn’t the only one studying Hannah. Reid couldn’t help but to study her as well. Emily had a sister? She never mentioned a sister. Hannah didn’t look like she belonged to the Prentiss family.

She looked more like she should be working in some sort of new age shop selling candles and crystals…. not that Reid hung around those types of places, but the BAU had worked a case once where Reid and Morgan had to interview a guy that worked in one of those places.

Hannah looked like she didn’t belong in the middle of a federal building.

Reid had to admit that she was actually kind of pretty, well more than kind of. He knew most people didn’t think he noticed the opposite sex. He might be a genius but he was still a hot-blooded male.

He could admit that the woman standing in front of him was alluring. The red of her lips contrasted well with her pale skin tone, and those lips were nice, a perfect cupid’s bow. Her dark hair looked soft. It was long and worn loosely, there was a bit of a wave to it unlike Emily’s straight hair. Though Hannah’s dress was loose fitting he could definitely spot the curve of her hips and noticeable cleavage.

He felt his breath quicken, nope, probably not a good idea to admire Emily Prentiss’ apparent sister.

Emily finally broke the silence speaking up. “How long are you in town?”

“A while…I don’t really, have a place to crash right now…I just got into town this morning.” Hannah half lied, she’d gotten in last night and she was technically staying in a somewhat seedy pay by the hour motel that she had a feeling her sister would cringe at the sight of.

She took a deep breath deciding to just bite the bullet. “I actually kind of need help…can we talk?”

She paused staring down at Reid and Morgan taking her eyes off her sister for the first time since she’d arrived, Reid feeling his cheeks flush somewhat under her gaze and the realization that she had caught him gawking.

She spoke again clearly making a point that she didn’t exactly appreciate being stared at. “In private.”

Emily sighed running a hand through her hair. Though she was concerned, Emily couldn't help but to be annoyed. This was typical Hannah behavior, show up unannounced and expect everyone to clean up her mess. Emily took a deep breath reminding herself she should be thankful Hannah was here. She'd been MIA for a while now. At least she was here and in one piece. “Just let me tell my boss I have to step away for the day.”

She stepped away Morgan fast to speak shooting Hannah an all too charming smile. “So, you’re Emily’s sister?”

Hannah shifted in place trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. She couldn't help herself, she'd always relied on humor when she felt out of place. “That’s what the DNA test says, 100 percent a Prentiss. Between you and me though, I'm still waiting on some more test results before I'm willing to accept it.”

Reid was fast to speak not picking up on any sass from Hannah. “Siblings actually only share about 50 percent of the same DNA. This is mostly due to recombination. Even though siblings share familial trees their genetic code can be completely different in some areas depending on what type of DNA testing they undergo. Half siblings actually will share only 25 percent of their siblings DNA…”

Morgan spoke stopping Reid before he got too carried away. “Kid, she’s joking.”

Hannah stared at Reid almost tempted to peer at him through her shades. What planet was this guy even from? She spoke unable to stop herself. “Guess my humor isn’t universal…Sorry, my smart mouth is a gift most people want me to return.”

They didn’t have a chance to continue the conversation as Emily made her way back downstairs gathering her things. “Okay, let’s go. I imagine your luggage is at a motel, since you aren’t carrying anything with you.”

Hannah cringed knowing she’d been caught in a lie. It sucked having a sister that could read you. “Yep.”

She paused turning to address the two men still staring up at her both more than curious about Emily’s never spoken of sister. “It was nice meeting you…”

“Dr. Spencer Reid, and Derek Morgan.” Morgan spoke before Reid had a chance to speak.

Hannah raised an eyebrow, Doctor? Seriously, this guy was a doctor? He didn’t look much older than her. He looked like he should be hanging out in a library, not carrying a badge and a handgun. Feds, she thought bitterly to herself, they definitely made her headache.

Reid and Morgan watched the two women disappear from sight not helping but to notice Reid was still staring straight ahead of where Hannah had been standing lost in thought.

He spoke not helping but to poke at the younger man. “Emily’s sister is pretty cute. A little different, but pretty cute.”

Reid felt his cheeks flush this comment flustering him. She was, she definitely was. He spoke pretending that he wasn’t that fascinated. “She’s not what I expected…I didn’t even know Emily had a sister.”

Morgan smirked not helping but to speak again. “You were staring pretty hard at her there Pretty Boy. You may have drooled a little bit too.”

“I need more coffee.” Reid blurted out shooting up from his desk wandering over to the breakroom. He wasn’t staring that hard, okay maybe he was.

Still though he had to admit, Hannah Prentiss wasn’t what he’d been expecting, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious.


End file.
